Much Ado About Nothing – The 10 Most Overused LinkedIn Profile Buzzwords of 2011
In December 2011, LinkedIn released its analysis of 135 million accounts on its network and the results of the 10 most overused buzzwords that people use on their professional profiles were picked up nearly virally on the Internet. Several of my clients forwarded this on to me.
Just in case you missed it, here they are:
- Creative
- Effective
- Organizational
- Extensive Experience
- Track Record
- Motivated
- Innovative
- Problem Solving
- Communication Skills
- Dynamic
This is the greatest “much ado about nothing” of the year. Described as “overused”, my clients immediately assumed that they shouldn’t use them. In fact, these words don’t matter at all. No one searches LinkedIn profiles for personal characteristics, e.g. “energetic”. They search for key functional skills, job titles, companies where employed, and credentials – which are what should be paid attention to in developing LinkedIn profiles!
These words have their place, since you are trying to build “pictures” for the reader of who you are. It should come as no surprise that the most used words will reflect the perceived employment culture of 2011. It is better, if you can, to find a more specific word that describes the characteristic or provide additional information that helps the reader understand what, for example, “creative” means in the context of your personality or skills, possibly with an adjective or descriptor. Nonetheless, there is nothing wrong with using these words.
Furthermore, these words will show up in LinkedIn recommendations. That’s fine. You want recommendations to “come from the heart”. Whatever the person writes is just fine. Many people read recommendations for trends – if all your recommendations say you are “creative”, you probably are, however the reader chooses to interpret it. If the recommendation is too boring, just hide it.
So, there is no need to lose any sleep over this list. Instead, keep your eye on the ball of what really matters.
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